Worship of Keh Zengol
This Article is by Biologicah. The Worship of Keh|Zengol is the official faith of the Followers of Keh|Zengol. It is the third biggest faith in the Blessed Federation of the Hronosigallrah's Children, and generally follows the belief that the mountains that the Zengol live in are holy protectors, and Keh|Zengol was the great uniter of the Zengol. The following information is from a Zengoli preacher, and is a transcript of what he said. Not because we are lazy, but because it is more fun to type. Cosmology and General Theology When the universe began, the Hronosigallrah was born from the great Hrono Beacon, the greatest star to have ever existed, the brightest beacon in the universe, the Great Old Lifegiver! And upon the birth of the greater Hronosigallrah, the energy that the Great Old Lifegiver released was so great that it created a new universe, overwriting the old, decaying universe that the Great Old Lifegiver once birthed and nurtured. Once the Great Hrono Beacon withered due to birthing such a magnificent god, the Hronosigallrah knew what it had to do, its purpose in life-- to carry on the task the Great Old Lifegiver had taken up. It began its journey immediately. For untold millennia, it journeyed through the universe its birth had created, seeding life on the planets carved from the Beacon’s matter and the moons the planets had released from their rocky flesh. But not all of these seeds led to the fruition of life; for the seed can be corrupt, and lead to eternal death instead. Of course, as it grew older and wiser, the seed of the Hronosigallrah became purer, for the seed of a new god is susceptible to corruption. And yet, the wizened grounds of those barren planets cannot be fertilised in most cases, for the corruption will outcompete any mortal or divine effort to seed the planet once more. Alas, when it came upon the planet that was to become our home, it found itself… bewildered. It had a peculiar feeling, as if it had felt a surge of power suddenly and overwhelmingly. The seed became stronger, and the Hronosigallrah quickly realised why this had occurred. He seeded the planet, and, as well as the life it had always birthed, it birthed a new deity. A deity to nurture the life on the planet, to guide it to greatness. This deity was named Keh|Zengol. Keh|Zengol protected the life of its planet with every glimmer of life that the Hronosigallrah had granted it. It drove away threats from the Great Beyond and stopped the weather of the Outside from turning on the life it had sustained. But most important of all, it directed a certain race to a new plane of intelligence. Sapience. This species… is our own. And in our time of need, a time of corruption and depression and indulgence, it took a mortal form to guide us to greatness. And in its guidance, it granted us great wisdom. It led us to the Outside, and beyond the Great Reservoir. It gave us the gift of theocracy, rather than democracy. It allowed us to dominate the other Shelters, to unite our race under one banner. And, upon its deathbed, it enlightened us on the existence of the afterlife. And as such we are grateful for its coming; for it has granted us hope that there is life after death. Pantheon The Hronosigallrah is our great Creator; it created the stars, the planets, the Shelters, all things in the universe simply through its own birth. And once it gained its strength, took the power of the Great Lifegiver, it went out and sought to create a new universe of life. And so it did, even if a great many of its efforts to seed the worlds it found failed. It created the very things that give it power: its loyal followers, our Blessed Federation. Our prayers give it strength, our faith rids its seed of corruption. It created us, and we show our appreciation through worship. And our faith shall ensure that we join it on its journey through the stars brought about by its birth, that we join it on its path of creation. We shall be the Creator’s assistants. Keh|Zengol, the deity spawned by the Hronosigallrah once it reached our world, is our guiding light-- it guides us in life and it guides us in death. It forms the passage between the mortal world and the afterlife. It guided us towards intelligence, turned us away from stones and guided us to metal, from the chaos and redundancy of democracy to the holy light of theocracy. It gave us civilisation, and for that we shall be in eternal gratitude. The Shelters-- ‘mountains’, to the people of the Outside-- are our protectors. They shield us from the evils of the Outside, grant us the homes of which we takes residence in. They are as mighty as they appear, and we are thankful for their existence. We build new Shelters on worlds of which there are none, we construct them around the Worlds that we encounter, all in an attempt to live on Worlds we are not native to. They are not the same. They are not natural parts of the Worlds. But we are dedicated to them all the same. Denominations and Heresies In spite of our eternal gratitude to the pantheon, however, we are not united in faith. Some groups have their own interpretations of the story of the universe. We accept some of those. However, there are those groups that go against our faith, spreading lives and denouncing the truth. It is these groups that we regard as heresies, and are the among the most Corrupt of our people. Within our faith, there are three major denominations: Zek|Logenism, Zek|Gekolism and Zek|Nekoism. Zek|Logenism follows the belief that all of the Hronosigallrah's Children-- the Holy ones, that is-- are equal, and should be treated with full respect regardless of their form or behaviour. This group is the largest denomination, yet it is also the youngest of them, forming shortly before we swore our allegiance to the Federation. Its members are quite devout, and spend a significant amount of their free time performing religious activities or assisting the less fortunate, as they have been educated to do. They construct vast citadels in areas with holy sites and spacious cathedrals in their cities. These cathedrals are not just for faith, however--they are also homes for the homeless, and often have a food bank nearby. They have incorporated faith and charity into one place. They see war as the last resort, as we all do, bar the Heretics. They believe that war is a simple way to exhaust resources that could be shared rather than claimed. However, when they do fight, they fight fiercely-- they therefore make up the bulk of our armed forces. Zek|Gekolism is similar to Zek|Logenism, in that it is a charitable and devoted denomination. However, where it is different from Zek|Logenism is that it fully believes that the Corrupt can redeem themselves. It claims this is due to our faith once being Corrupt in itself, and by embracing the Hronosigallrah it managed to return to holiness. Whilst this belief is controversial to other Federal religions, they nevertheless are recognised as a denomination rather than a Heresy. They are also very much pacifistic, not even seeing war as a last resort, but rather as a thing that should not be considered at all. The final denomination, Zek|Nekoism, is vastly different from the other denominations. It is quite more warlike than the others, and believes that our faith can only be spread through force, for 'words are but means of peace; and peace does not spread our faith.' Thus, they are generally disagreeable to the other denominations, and even some Heresies. Despite this, they form a large denomination of our faith, and have proven quite useful for a range of military related duties, from Research and Development to military leadership. They are responsible for a range of technologies, from the modern plasma rifle to the shields that protect our vessels. There are two major Heresies that exist outside of our Federation, and have been suspected of negotiating with our enemies. One of these Heresies is the Followers of He|Zega, who claim that Keh|Zengol was not our guiding light, and is mistaken with their supposed prophet He|Zega. They often enslave and genocide everyone that does not follow their faith, a practice only used by the most barbaric of the Corrupt. They claim that charity only preserves the weak, and should be abolished so that every member of society is strong. They tear down the traditions of those who reject them, wipe entire cultures from history in a petty display of 'strength' and 'righteousness'. Naturally, they are detested by even the Zek|Nekoists, and all evidence of their activity is immediately investigated. The Followers of Ke|Neke are even worse than the He|Zega followers. Much like He|Zegaism, they denounce Keh|Zengol as a false prophet. However, they believe that all life is Corrupt, and that if it is not destroyed, the Great Kizz|On will wipe them out, in a never before witnessed level of destruction wrought like the Scourge they are. Thus, they are often involved in terror attacks, more than willing to go as far as possible to kill as many people as possible. We have lost far too much to them, and are currently attempting to exterminate them. After all, if there is no life, the Hronosigallrah will surely see a premature end to its Journey. Worship Worship is a simple topic within our faith, for one is not required to do much in order to empower the Hronosigallrah. However, doing more is requested, for the greater devotion that you show towards the Hronosigallrah will lead to more power being given to it. The bare minimum is to pray twice a day towards it. Be it an hour apart, or on the traditional morning and evening, it will receive your power nevertheless. The prayer involves reciting, with your eyes closed, "To our most Favourable Creator, I pray to you to grant you strength. Let it be known that your work is appreciated, even if you should not bear witness to it. May my power eliminate corruption, and assist you on your journey throughout the stars.". There are exceptions to this, however. Soldiers are allowed to simply close their eyes and think about the Hronosigallrah for 5 seconds prior to the battle. Those who are on military vessels are also allowed to do this. Additions to the prayer can include the sacrifice of something that you either hold dear or don't, or an act of something that, traditionally, occurs behind closed doors. The rich and the poor vary little in how they worship, with the poor generally going for the bare minimum for obvious reasons. Holidays Like all faiths before us, there are dates that we consider unique, and thus celebrate. Reasons for celebration are generally due to the date itself, or a major event that occurred on that date. Firstly, there are the feasts of the beginning and the end. These feasts take place on the beginning of a year and 10 days prior to the end of the year, respectively. These feasts are held in cathedrals and citadels, and an especially grand one is held at the Temple of the Hronosigallrah, and all are invited, from the poorest of us to the richest. These times are times of socialisation, of peace. That is why we hold them dear. And of course, the food plays a major role to our dedication to the feasts, as well. Prior to the beginning of the feast, we all pray to the Hronosigallrah for granting us the lives we need, and the food we eat. Then, there is the Celebration of Life. This is a celebration dedicated to the Hronosigallrah and its granting of life to us all. It praises our progress, our achievements and our continued survival as a species. The celebration takes place in the streets, akin to a festival, or a parade. It will often last for many hours, and is quite the sight to behold. It is a demonstration of our faith, and our appreciation. There is also the Celebration of the Journey. This celebration focuses on the great Journey the Hronosigallrah undergoes in order to grant the universe life, and its growing ability to seed more and more planets with life. It too is akin to a festival or a parade, it too lasts for quite a few hours. It is a demonstration of our dedication to the Hronosigallrah, and our will as a species to go out there and join it on its Journey. Finally, there is the Celebration of Triumph. This celebration, while understandably less popular to the less devoted, is dedicated to the strength of the Hronosigallrah and its children and the legitimacy of our faith. Unlike the other two, the celebration is yet another feast, set on the date of which the Holy Imperium officially prevailed over us and the Order of the Lilac Warriors. Holy Sites Our holy sites are few in number, but are sacred nevertheless. The first of these holy sites is the Temple of the Hronosigallrah, a site shared throughout all faiths within our Federation. It is a large station found within the Birthplace of Unity, and houses our holy Shrine that we dedicate to the Hronosigallrah and its might. It is a common ritual to take a pilgrimage there at least once during your life. Therefore, it is often filled with individuals from all over the Federation. While there have been some attempts to desecrate its beauty, we have never had to reconstruct it. For our own Worship, we hold the Shelter of Righteousness sacred, for it is the Shelter of which housed the great Keh|Zengol. We also take a pilgrimage there during our lifetime, and we visit the site of which Keh|Zengol united the Shelter under one banner to spread our faith, and we thank him. For if he had not stepped forward and united the Shelter under his holy banner that day, we would surely still be the Corrupt fools stumbling around in our seperate Shelters.